1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a damper apparatus that is disposed in a refrigerator, and more particularly to controlling cooling airflow within a refrigerator.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a damper apparatus provided in a refrigerator is used to open and close an opening section provided in a duct that is connected from a cooler to a freezer chamber to thereby adjust the temperature inside the refrigerator. More specifically, the temperature in the freezer chamber is always monitored by a temperature sensor, and is controlled by a microcomputer. When the detected temperature of the sensor lowers and becomes lower than a specified set value of the microcomputer, the damper apparatus is energized to close the opening section by a damper open/close plate, and the energization is shut off at a state in which the damper is closed. Conversely, when the temperature within the refrigerator rises and exceeds the set value, the damper apparatus is energized again, and the energization is shut off at a position when the damper open/close plate is completely opened.
Normally, when the refrigerator access door is closed, the fan inside the refrigerator is stopped as a noise prevention countermeasure. As a result, warm air from outside may readily enter the refrigerator, and therefore the temperature and humidity inside the refrigerator may increase. As the humidity enters the cooler section, it causes dew condensation and frosting, which hinders the cooling ability of the refrigerator, and therefore wastes the power.
As a countermeasure, the damper apparatus is energized in association with an opening movement of the access door to operate the damper open/close plate in a direction in which the duct is closed. This can prevent due condensation inside the duct that may take place as warm air enters the cooler system. In the mean time, an air curtain apparatus may be provided to form a plane layer of flowing air across the entire surface of the opening section at the access door. The air curtain will prevent external air from readily entering the refrigerator to raise the temperature inside the refrigerator.
This temperature increase inside the refrigerator, which may be resulted from opening the access door, is caused not only by the open air entering the refrigerator, but also by heat of a lighting apparatus provided inside the refrigerator that lights up only when the access door is opened. This temperature increase by the heat of the lighting apparatus also needs to be lowered by blowing cooling air inside the refrigerator. Accordingly, to cope with at least the above two factors of the temperature increase caused by opening the access door, a duct that conducts cooling air from the cooler and a damper apparatus that controls air flow depending of the requirement are required.
In other words, one twin type damper apparatus having two dampers or two single type damper apparatuses may be required as a structure that can simultaneously control a damper circuit that closes a duct that connects to the cooler on one hand, and another damper circuit that provides communication with the cooler on the other hand. The damper apparatus uses motors as its power source, and the motors are provided inside the refrigerator. Therefore, as the number of motors inside the refrigerator increases, the heat generated by the motors lowers the cooling efficiency, and the power consumption increases.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of damper apparatuses to be installed in a refrigerator, and to provide a damper apparatus that can control two open-close circuits with one open-close plate.
To achieve the object described above, a damper apparatus for a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention may include a single damper open/close plate that opens and closes two duct opening sections, respectively. In one embodiment of the present invention, a damper apparatus has one single open/close plate with two faces. The two faces of the one single open/close plate are provided to face two duct opening sections that are branched from one duct, wherein each of the two faces of the open/close plate opens and closes each of the corresponding opening sections that face the respective two faces of the open/close plate.
In one embodiment, the branched two duct opening sections may be controlled to open and close by the damper open/close plate in three modes is including an open-open mode, an open-close mode and a close-open mode. In the openxe2x80x94open mode, both of the two duct opening sections are opened. In the open-close mode, one of the two opening sections (i.e., a first opening section) is opened, and the other (i.e., a second opening section) is closed. In the close-open mode, one of the two opening sections (i.e., a first opening section) is closed, and the other (i.e., a second opening section) is opened. Moreover, the branched two duct opening sections define opening plane sections that abut against the damper open/close plate, the opening plane sections transverse each other at an angle within 90xc2x0, and the damper open/close plate is rotatable through an angle within 90xc2x0. As a result, the damper apparatus can be made compact, such that it is readily installed inside the refrigerator, and the duct can be more reasonably installed. In addition, the operation distance of the damper open/close plate is short, and therefore the time to shift from one mode to the other becomes shorter. This improves the sensitivity of the damper apparatus, and reduces the power consumption to drive the damper open/close plate.
Also, a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention may include: a forced cooling air circulation duct; a first opening section that introduces cooling air in a specified storage section within the refrigerator; a second opening section that is operated in association with an opening movement of a refrigerator access door to introduce cooling air in a specified storage section within the refrigerator; and a refrigerator damper apparatus having one damper open/close plate with two surfaces, each facing each of the first and second opening sections, that controllably open and close the first and second opening sections, respectively.
Also, the refrigerator damper apparatus may control to open and close the damper open/close plate in three modes including an openxe2x80x94open mode, an open-close mode and a close-open mode, wherein the refrigerator damper apparatus is operated in association with an opening movement of the refrigerator access door to close the first opening section and open the second opening section. Further, the second opening section is provided to communicate with an air curtain apparatus provided adjacent to the refrigerator access door, and the air curtain apparatus operates only when the access door is opened. In this manner, when the first opening section is shut on one hand, the second opening section is always opened on the other hand. Preferably, cooling air that is introduced through the second opening section is also used to cool the lighting apparatus inside the refrigerator that is lit only when the access door is opened.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate, by way of example, various features of embodiments of the invention.